I am dedicated to centering the voices and lived experiences of those most impacted by – and often most knowledgeable of – the phenomena we study.
Research Projects
Guided by my lens as a Chinese-Taiwanese American cisgender daughter of immigrants, my research approach is grounded in critical and systems theory, conceptualizing disparities in healthcare services as by design through the historical context, structures, and systems communities are embedded in.
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Ultimately, I aim to translate community-led knowledge into accessible programs and interventions across systems to support minoritized communities in healing from various forms of trauma. One of the ways I’ve begun to explore this is through digital health interventions such as Unstuck, a self-guided CBT app.
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I believe that implementation science can be a vehicle for improving access to care among structurally minoritized communities. However, without attention to cultural responsiveness, system-driven implementation can run the risk of widening disparities, even as it increases access. I aim to bring a critical lens to implementation science, using community-based participatory research approaches to co-create alongside community members and organizations, who are best positioned to interrogate and make improvements in the phenomena that shape their lives.
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I am invested in understanding the impact of individual, historical, and systemic racism on racial/ethnic minoritized communities and how they heal from racial stress and trauma.
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How are communities socialized to see their racial/ethnic identities as strength in the face of oppressive forces? How can we harness what we know about the impacts of racial/ethnic identity development and socialization on mental health to adapt and develop effective interventions?
My research broadly focuses on:
Project Spotlight
Research as healing: A critical participatory action research approach to Asian Americans healing from racial trauma
I received the Division 56 Cultivating Healing, Advocacy, Nonviolence, Growth, and Equity (CHANGE) Grant to support this work. Using CPAR as a praxis, the proposed study will bring together a team of AANHPI citizen scientists to co-design a study to better understand AANHPI community-led ways of healing from racial trauma.
How were AANHPIs impacted by COVID-19-related racism?
As part of the AANHPI HEART Study (PI: Wendy Chu, MA; Co-PI: Andrea Ng, MA), we asked 459 AANHPIs how they were impacted by COVID-19-related racism. Guided by the Radical Healing Framework, I led a study identifying themes from their responses and looked at whether certain themes were related to sociodemographic and cultural factors, critical consciousness, and racial trauma.
How do community therapists adapt evidence-based practices (EBPs) to better fit the diverse youth and families they serve?
My dissertation looked at how community therapists adapt trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) when working with racial/ethnic minoritized youth and families. Community therapists hold valuable local expertise about what may promote client understanding or engagement in their care contexts, especially when they identify with the communities they serve.
What can we learn from our school district partners on how to implement a suicide prevention intervention in schools primarily serving Asian American and Latine families?
This study was part of a larger effort within the CARE in Youth Mental Health Lab (PI: Dr. Anna Lau) to reduce disparities in follow-up care among racial/ethnic minoritized youth identified with suicide risk in schools.